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I am writing to inform
you about the college’s progress in restoring equilibrium
to the college budget. At its February meeting, the Board
of Trustees had a full discussion of many elements of the
proposed financial plan, including the proposed changes to
the dining system. Although the Board did not make a decision
about the dining proposal itself, it did conclude that the
dining system should absorb a share of the reductions necessary
to restore balance to the college’s budget and that
the cuts in the dining committee’s recommendation were
of the appropriate proportion.
We have therefore decided
to implement the dining consolidation plan, as proposed in
the dining committee’s report.
Kitchens and dining rooms will close in Baldwin, Park, and
Parsons this summer. The Northrop kitchen will close this
summer, but the dining room will remain open, served by the
Gillett kitchen. Kitchens and dining rooms in Gardiner, Jordan,
Haven/Wesley, and Talbot will close in the summer of 2005.
We project that these closures will save the college $779,000
once fully implemented, a sum that represents 7 percent of
the reductions proposed in the budget plan for the campus.
The
plan also
calls for other changes, including extended hours, more menu
choices, and more choices about where to eat. With these
changes, Smith will continue to offer an intimate dining
model unique in higher education for its number of dining
halls and its small scale.
There are many complex issues
involved in the implementation of both the closures and the
introduction
of new features.
We are therefore establishing a set of working groups,
each co-chaired by a student, with a number of student members,
in order to plan for the fall. We plan a group on each
of
the following topics: menus, evaluation; traditions; access
and security; community building; space use of closed dining
rooms and kitchens; and communication. We will need to
work together to create other ways of sustaining community,
particularly
in the houses whose dining rooms will close. In addition,
the college and the dining staff union have agreed to open
negotiations early to determine the best ways to minimize
the impact on staff.
I encourage you to think about
this decision in the context of the budget challenges facing
the
campus. In making choices
about where to assign reductions to avoid facing multi-million
dollar deficits in future years, we have given priority
to the academic program and to financial aid, although
we have
had to make changes even in these critical areas. Given
the choices before us, it did not seem justifiable that
dining
should be protected from budget cuts. However, the dining
implementation committee rejected more radical proposals
that would have saved more money. We have restricted
the cuts to 10 percent in order to maintain a dining system
that, with 18 dining rooms, remains widely distributed
in comparison
to that of many other colleges.
The Campus Climate Working
Group meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 10, at noon
in the Neilson Browsing
Room, will concern
campus climate issues related to the planned changes
in dining. We will ask for questions and suggestions
to help
the working
groups shape their conversations. I hope to see many
of you there.
Sincerely,
Carol T. Christ |
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